Washing-machine



(No Model.)

0. HESSE.

WASHING MACHINE. No. 403,669. Patented May 21 1889.

LII JC N. PETERS. PholwLilhognpher, Wnshmghm. n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES HESSE, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,669, dated May 21,1889.

Application filed October 4, 1886- Serial No. 215,275. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES IIESSE, of

Danville, in the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vashing-Wlachines; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form part of this specification. My invention relates tothat class of washing-machines in which a rotary closed drum or cylinderrevolves through a suds-box, by WhlOll operation the contents of saiddrum are continually agitated and displaced by its revolution.

It consists in certain details of construction, arrangement, andcombinations of parts, which I shall now proceed to fully describe, andthe particular points of novelty in which will be specificallydesignated in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinalsectional view through the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection of the same, taken on the plane of line 5c 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa detail view of one of the interior ribbed braces of the drum-head.Fig. 4: is a section of the same. Fig. 5 is a detail view, in elevation,of one of the exterior braces, together with the gearing mechanism forthe revolving shaft. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views of the side stripsor flanges for guiding the removable door of the clothes holder or drum.Fig. 8 is a view of one of my improved gudgeons. Fig. 9 is a view of thecover for the suds-box, the upper portion being broken away. Fig. 10 isa detail view of one of the strengthening-hoops for the sides of thedrum. Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the brace shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 12is a detail view of the corrugations secured upon the interiorsurface ofthe side of the drum, shown curved instead of angular. Fig. 13 is adetail view of an anglepiece for strengthening the corners of themachine.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings by letter, Ais the frame or casing for holdingthe ordinary sudsbox B and the revolving drum or clothesholder 0. Thisdrum is made of any suitable sheet metal of the form shown, havingcircular sides a and convex or conical ends I). The interior or sides ofthis cage or drum are provided with corrugated metal, a, which extendsentirely around the interior circular side thereof, and is suitablysecured to the sheet metal, a, by rivets or otherwise.

D is the door through which the clothes are inserted and withdrawn, andit consists of a plate of sheet metal similar to the material of thedrum and covered on the inside with corrugated metal secured and guidedby the side strips, 0 c, which are riveted through holes, as shown inFigs. 6 and 7, to a projecting flange (not shown) of the head or end I),which projects slightly beyond the surface of the sides a. Thus the doorD is shoved in between the guide-strips c 0 until it covers the openingin the periphery of the side a and presses up against another strip (notshown) similar to c c, placed at right angles to said strips andparallel to the edge of the opening, the other end of the door beingsecurely fastened by any suitable device.

E E are the improved interior convex braces, which serve the doublepurpose of both bracing the heads of the drum and of lifting the clothesfrom the bottom thereof, thereby causing the contents to fall or slideover the corrugations a during the revolution of the cage. These bracesare designed to be used in large machines, where great strength andsecurity are required, and they consist each of the ribbed radiatingarms G G, having the two transverse corrugated lifting-bars H H and thecentral circular portion, I, provided with rivetholes (Z d, all castconvex in shape to fit the heads b and in one piece. The braces aresecurely fastened by rivets through holes ff in the arms G G to thedrum-heads. These liftingbars each consist of a single straight strip ofsheet metal longitudinally corrugated, projecting inwardly toward thecenter of the drum, and extending from and secured to an arm, G, of oneend brace, E, to a corresponding arm, G, of the brace E at the oppositeend of the drum.

J J are the gudgeons of the drum. They heads and are secured rigidlythereto by rivet-s passing through the plates K K, the metal heads I),and the portions I I of the braces E,

thereby rendering the drum-heads perfectly rigid and braced.

The s1de of the drum is made more secure against the heavy pressurewithin by two metal hoops, L L, surrounding the drum and fastened in themanner shown in Fig. 10.

Centrally on each side of the frame or casing A is a semicirculardepression, 1, in which the gudgeons rest and have their bearing.Immediately underneath these depressions is secured the T-brace M, whichconsists of the central fiat bar m, the ribbed arms m at right angles tobar m, the semicircular depression j, coincident with depression 1, andthe short shaft M, formed on the bar W, said bars and shaft being allcast in one single piece. This brace is riveted to the sides of theframe or casing through the holes K, with the depression j fitted underthe depression t, thereby bracing and strengthening the sides of themachine and supporting the bearing of the gudgeons.

N is the cover, (shown in 'Fig. 9,) designed to fit over the suds-box,and is provided with two corresponding depressions, e 6, similar tothose of the sides and coincident therewith.

The shafts g g of the gudgeons J J have the gear-wheels O O keyedrigidly thereon near the bearings 2' t' of the sides of thema chine.These wheels 0 0 each mesh with the wheels 0 O, loosely mounted on theshafts M" M", and secured thereon by pins 111' m, as shown in Fig. 5.The object of these two wheels 0 O O O is to make the shafts g g revolvemore easily.

In very large machines, where it is desirable to run the apparatus bysteam, I provide the two fiy-wheels P P, keyed to the shafts g g midwaybetween the j ournal-bearin g and the handle Q. To these wheels P P maybe attached suitable belts for imparting rotary motion to said shafts.

My device is provided with the usual waterjacket, R, and reservoirs S,the water in which reservoir may be heated by any suitable means, suchas gasoline, as shown. This reservoir communicates with the jacket R bya suitable valve operated by valve-rod 'r, as shown.

It is obvious that the reservoir S and heating device therefor may bedispensed with, if .desired, and the steam-jacket T and steampipes 252?may be substituted for conveying steam underneath the suds-boxersupplying hot water to jacket R.

U is a pipe for drawing off, the water from steam-jacket R, and the pipeU is for conveying off the waste water of the suds-box, both which pipesmay be provided with suitable plugs, as shown, or other device forcontrolling its action.

The operation of my invention may be described as follows: The partsbeing in position shown in Fig. 2, with the gudgeons securely boltedthrough the drum-heads Y and resting in their bearing-ports in the sidesof the casing, the soiled clothes are now introduced through the door D,which is then closed and securely fastened. Motion is then imparted tothe drum or cage by the crankhandles or the belts on the fiy-wheels.Durin g the revolution of the drum the corrugated bars H H serve tocatch the clothes or contents, carrying them up to the top, where theyare released by the descent of the said bar and allowed to slide downover the corrugations at until again taken up by the other bar, and insuch manner the operation is continued for the desired length of time.

My invention, when provided with the devices hereinbefore described, isof great strength and security and operates to great advantage,especially in hotels and Laundries, where large machines of thisconstruction are required,

Having thus fullydescribed my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a boiler washing-machine, the combination of the outer casing, thesuds-box, the revolving drum located therein and provided with convexheads, strengthening-loops extending around the periphery of the drum,the interior braces secured to the heads of said drum and each cast inone piece, and

consisting of a central convex portion, I, to fit in the closed concavecenter of a head and having a series of transverse rivet-holes, and theribbed radiating arms G, having rivetholes f, the gudgeons forsupporting and revolving the drum, each cast in one piece separate fromthe drum, and the braces E, and consisting of a short stem, g, at theinner end provided with a flat concave plate, K, to fit snugly upon theexterior of the closed convex center of a head, said plates Kand theclosed centers of the heads being provided with transverse rivet-holesregistering with the holes (Z in centers I, whereby the plates K andcenters I are secured to the drum-heads by the same rivets passingthrough the same, all combined and operating substantially as described.

2. A washing-machine comprising a sudsbox, a rotary drum located thereinand hav-" short stem at the inner end provided with acircular concaveplate fitting upona closed exterior center of the convex drum-heads, the

IIO

the other, secured to the end of an arm of each brace andprojectinginwardly, whereby the clothes are lifted by said bars and theI 5 arms of the braces, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES HESSE.

Witnesses:

JULIUS SOLGER, F. R. HARDING.

